Rowan Kavner
LOS ANGELES – Chris Paul wasn’t sure as he walked into STAPLES Center prior to Monday night’s game whether or not he’d be able to play.
The star point guard knew his explosiveness may not be the same even if he did suit up, but that didn’t stop him from playing and doing what he does best, proceeding to dish out 15 assists in the win.
“There was a chance (I wouldn’t play),” Paul said. “I came to the game probably not knowing or not expecting to, but I got treatment all day today, (Sunday) night even after our game. Our trainers just found a way to get me through it.”
It was that Sunday night game where Paul banged his knee, getting X-rays afterward and leaving him only 24 hours to try to heal up enough to grit out another NBA game, this time back at home.
Paul’s goal of playing in all 82 games stayed alive, as the Clippers’ 64th game marked his 64th start of the season against the Timberwolves.
“It was tough, but I got through it,” Paul said. “Any time you win, it makes everything feel a little bit better.”
It was clear early on this wasn’t going to be the same Paul performance from recent games. Paul had scored at least 20 points in five of his seven games entering Monday night’s matchup.
There were times throughout the game where he’d have to leave a timeout to get on a bike to keep his knee from stiffening up. The result was a 1-of-6 night shooting, but the 15 assists and his presence alone more than made up for any shortcomings with his shot.
“He controlled the game,” said head coach Doc Rivers. “It’s amazing. That’s just IQ. It is. He’s just smart. He knew he wasn’t going to be explosive tonight, he allowed them to trap him a lot tonight on purpose to make passes and pick them apart. Tonight, he didn’t need athleticism to be effective.”
Paul’s willingness to share the ball rather than force anything led to star performances from J.J. Redick and DeAndre Jordan, who combined for 46 points and were the beneficiaries of many of Paul’s passes.
“He was playing on one leg and he had 15 assists,” Redick said admiringly. “They didn’t really figure it out until the third quarter, either, that he was hobbled. He’s incredibly competitive. I don’t even think that he expected to play today during the day leading up to the game. But he just gutted it out. I’m not surprised that he played, because he’s tough and he’s competitive, but I’m happy that he did.”
It was a struggle all night for Rivers to figure out how to handle Paul’s situation.
Rivers said he wanted to sit Paul as much as possible, but with a bruised knee, the more he sat Paul, the tougher it was for Paul to move once he returned to the court.
“I think we put him back in with five minutes in the second quarter,” Rivers said. “If I made a mistake, it was that one. I shouldn’t have put him back in, because he’d been sitting almost eight minutes. That was too many minutes to sit with the knee. I probably should’ve just sat him the whole half.”
The good news for the Clippers is Paul didn’t seem to hurt himself any further, and they still pulled out the win. Paul said he doesn’t want to hurt the team, but he also knows the Clippers need as much help as possible as they deal with injuries to Blake Griffin and Jamal Crawford.
“I think I’ve just got to be smart about it and understand,” Paul said. “I feel like if I can get out there and contribute and help the team, we need all the bodies we can get and we need the wins right now.”
He admittedly wasn’t as aggressive as he would’ve liked to have been, but his grittiness didn’t go unnoticed by the players who picked up the scoring slack.
“He definitely could’ve sat this one out tonight,” Jordan said. “He got pretty banged up in the game on Sunday, but he really wanted to be out there with us. That shows how much of a leader he is, the will that he wanted to get out there and play and help any way he could.”
